I used to be a highly motivated, driven person. Extremely creative but emotional for my entire life. I was driven by success. I was diagnosed with depression 13 years ago. I found out I had six familiy members with it. Electroconvulsive therapy and suicide were in my family.

I started taking 40mg then switched to 20mg Prozac 2 years ago. It worked, but gave me an inner tension that was too much. I switched to Zoloft which required 150mg to start working. It doesn't give me inner tension, but I am always tired, and most of all I am “emotionally detached”. It is better than living with an impending sense of doom and reacting to everything like before, but I have come to a spot where I "hardly care" about much of anything. Some times this is good. But it is very difficult to get motivated and to keep my focus. My inner drive has stopped. This seems to be little known symptom at least for my doctor and there isn't much on the internet either.

Has anyone experienced this? Have you been successful in finding an antidepressant that did not cause this? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

Carl

Ulcerative Colitis, depression, anxiety since '94

currently on 6mp, sulfasalazine, occasional prednisone, low Prozac. Various vitamins and supplements.

I have been taking effexor xr for about 3 weeks now and have felt emotionless. Feel very flat and it's hard for me to even laugh at anything. Sometimes this does happen with meds. Your definately not alone. I am now stopping this med and will switch to something else in a week. I hope you will talk with your Dr and find the solution for you! Never give up!Sought help Jan 2009

Thank you all. When i had depression, I felt everything and to extremes! This blunting seemed to start with the Meds. I will try another med and another Dr. too. This one is not as knowledgable as I would like. I need an expert!

CarlCarl

Ulcerative Colitis, depression, anxiety since '94

currently on 6mp, sulfasalazine, occasional prednisone, low Prozac. Various vitamins and supplements.

Yes, I did experience what you are describing. I found that I missed the wide emotional range that I had, too. I agree with the suggestions to try a new med, and hopefully you will find one that is a good fit for you. All the best to you.

"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I became aware of the emotional blunting being caused by Effexor when I went off it and switched to Wellbutrin. Suddenly, I found myself being moved by things that previously left me feeling nothing. It's possible the Wellbutrin itself was causing the increased emotionality but since it takes awhile for the anti-depressants to get in your system and I was going up on it slowly, I'm inclined to think it was due to not being on the Effexor. Anyhow, it's nice to know that I can have feelings; it's been a long time!